


A Dragon in Thy Pocket

by alisayamin (sh_04e)



Series: Lisa's Voltron Platonic Gen Fics [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Animate Object, Astral Projection, Blood Magic, Bonding Moments, Dragon!Keith, Elemental Magic, Fae & Fairies, Family, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Holt Siblings Shenanigans, Hugs, Humor, Hunk (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Knights - Freeform, Lance is practically Legolas, Lotor's Sunny Disposition, Mages, Magic, Magical Tattoos, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, Potions, Potions Accident, Protectiveness, Shapeshifting, Spells & Enchantments, Team as Family, Telepathy, The Enchanted Forest, Weird Plot Shit, Were-Creatures, dont worry its a good accident, keith can be smol AND big, keith is smol, matt is so confused
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2019-03-20 21:16:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13726140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sh_04e/pseuds/alisayamin
Summary: “Shiro.” There was definitely underlying panic in Matt’s voice, “Is that adragon?"Holding up the small curled dragon on his palm to Matt’s eye level, Shiro placating said, “Matt, meet Keith.”The dragon drew both their attention when it started purring somewhat and then all of a sudden, sneezed a small ball of fire towards Matt, who opted to stare at ‘Keith’ blankly after mutely dodging the stray burst of flames.In that flat (disapproving) voice that Shiro absolutely despised, Matt asked, “Shiro.Why?” Matt started gesturing with his hands to stress on his distress of the situation, “HOW?”And that made Shiro think.How does one explain that a tiny dragon decided to reside in his right pocket?Looking at Matt and remembering how utterly skeptical his friend was, Shiro huffed.One does not.Chapter 11 teaser:Before Lance, Hunk or Matt could tell the story, Pidge sealed their lips shut and hissed, “Keith is achildand does not need to know aboutthe birds and the bee!”





	1. A Breath of Fresh Flames

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm currently testing out writing compatibility with Lisa (Twitter@inatrice) and they shared a few prompts with me! This one is by twitter@grimkohai who gave the prompt: Tiny Dragon!Keith that rides around in Shiro's pocket and hordes whatever Shiro decides to put in that pocket.
> 
> Its adorable and so crackable, I couldn't help myself. As usual, it will get a little serious later on, but for now, meet, smol dragon!Keith~

 

Matt was ecstatic when a messenger informed him that all the knights had returned safely. Princess Allura would be so thankful. Banishing a whole group of thieves from the forbidden forest couldn’t have been easy. Wanting to be the bearer of good news to the princess, Matt quickly made his way to the drawing room where the princess was most likely taking her afternoon tea.

Surprisingly, he caught sight of Shiro at the courtyard. Just….standing there, staring at his palm. He hadn’t even taken off his armor yet. Matt paused his steps. Curiosity got the better of him, so he walked towards his friend, “Shiro, what are you doing?”

Shiro simply acknowledged Matt by turning his body towards his friend but his eyes were still glued to the object he held. Shiro stared incredulously at the small ball of… crimson scales and curled ebony wings. He couldn’t even see the snout of the tiny dragon but at least it was warm on the palm of his hand. He could see Matt’s eyes widening comically out of the corner of his eye.

“Shiro.” There was definitely underlying panic in Matt’s voice, “Is that a _dragon_?”

Holding up the small curled dragon on his palm to Matt’s eye level, Shiro placating said, “Matt, meet Keith.”

The dragon drew both their attention when it started purring somewhat and then all of a sudden, sneezed a small ball of fire towards Matt, who opted to stare at ‘Keith’ blankly after mutely dodging the stray burst of flames.

In that flat (disapproving) voice that Shiro absolutely despised, Matt asked, “Shiro. _Why?_ ” Matt started gesturing with his hands to stress on his distress of the situation, “ _HOW?_ ”

And that made Shiro think. _How does one explain that a tiny dragon decided to reside in his right pocket?_ Looking at Matt and remembering how utterly skeptical his friend was, Shiro huffed. _One does not._

 

* * *

 

From where Pidge sat on the low branch of the red pine tree, she saw Shiro stuff a handkerchief into his pocket. She had no idea what her expression was like but it must have been something that bordered between curiosity and incredulity because Shiro looked up to her and explained, “Keith will get cold when I go to the mountains tomorrow.”

Right. The dragon. The dragon currently residing in Shiro’s pocket. The small dragon that drove Matt crazy for some reason. Shiro’s dragon, Keith. Pidge rolled her eyes. God forbid the dragon from freezing to death by refusing to leave the knight’s pocket.

Pidge, being the responsible mage that she was, floated down from the branch, wrestled the handkerchief from the dragon in Shiro’s pocket, charmed the damn cloth to be fireproof, and then returned it without saying a word.

Keith thanked her by donating a piece of lint from Shiro’s pocket.

“You,” Pidge said in a distant voice as she studied the lint, “Are a _very_ generous dragon, Keith.”

Shiro smiled proudly at his little dragon. Keith never parted from anything in its hoard after all.

 

* * *

 

Lance rarely questioned his superior (and idol) but he seriously thought he imagined the whole thing. It’s not every day that you see a knight purposely climb a tree just to pluck a single small acorn and just… drop it into their pocket.

And Lance didn’t even have to ask because Shiro was already approaching Lance with a huge grin, “I got Keith an acorn.”

Shiro then proceeded to show Lance the content of his right pocket pouch.

They both peered inside to the sight of a very satisfied purring dragon wrapped around the recently dropped acorn.

After multiple encounters with the ‘wild and the weird’, the sight warmed Lance’s heart as he cooed, “Aww, he likes it.”

Not even Keith biting Lance’s finger (because he wanted to pet the dragon) could deter Lance from continuously adoring the small red dragon. Lance did scream however when Keith started spitting multiple fireballs to his hair.

Lance scowled the whole journey back to the castle with his uneven hairline but occasionally, he would give Shiro small trinkets he found that Keith might like.  

Shiro’s pocket was heavy with Keith’s newest hoard thanks to Lance. Keith especially loved the small shard from Shiro’s chipped blade that Lance picked up for the little dragon. Lance received TWO pieces of lint from Keith in return. Returning to the castle in high spirits, Lance showed off his lint to Pidge and bragged about how he got more than she did.

Pidge refused to fix his hair that evening.

 

* * *

 

Everyone knew Keith the Dragon. Most avoided Shiro because it was logical to stay away from a dragon. But those that had actually _seen_ Keith would pounce on Shiro just to see the little thing. One of them, was Hunk. And Hunk, adored Keith, debatably, more than Shiro did if not the same. Hunk even carved a plate for Keith.

Hunk was the only other person Keith allowed to lift it out from its humble home that was Shiro’s pocket. Whenever Shiro was available, Hunk would offer to feed Keith. Keith’s diet was a healthy breakfast of a peeled grape, a satisfying lunch of one fried potato stick dusted with salt and a hearty dinner of a thin strip of roasted beef.

Accepting the plate from Keith, Hunk served up the dragon’s meal, “Here ya go, Keith.”

Hunk’s plate for Keith was one of the objects that the dragon did not hoard to itself all the time. Keith seemed perfectly fine to let Hunk use it whenever he wanted to feed Keith. (But Keith did fuss whenever Hunk would keep the plate away longer than necessary)

At the end of every meal, Hunk would return Keith to Shiro and they would both watch as Keith curled around itself and drape its wings over its whole body for a short nap in Shiro’s pocket.

Hunk made a sound that resembled a high keen, his own form of cooing after the dragon. Keith always ignored it instead of reacting unfavorably. Never bite the hand that feeds you. The dragon allowed both Shiro and Hunk to watch it rest.

As strange as it was to bend over and look into someone’s pocket for a questionable amount of time, everyone accepted the notion when it involved Shiro and his dragon.

 

* * *

 

Everyone always asked if Shiro had a charmed pocket to keep all of Keith’s hoard. Pidge would gladly do so but that wasn’t the case. To be honest, it was the princess who suggested an immobile ‘treasure chest’ for Keith. It wouldn’t do to have one of her best knights to drag a dragon’s hoard but it was dishonorable to simply throw away a dragon’s hoard. So, after a dubious discussion involving Princess Allura communicating with Keith through her trusted mice in the presence of a very serious Shiro and a _very confused_ Matt who kept frowning at the whole scene, the princess and the dragon came to an understanding.

In Shiro’s quarters at the castle, there was a niche, an alcove that was built for Keith’s hoard. Every time Shiro came back, he would allow Keith to rearrange his old and new items in the alcove. At first, it looked like an organized mess. But as days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months, Shiro realized that Keith arranged all the items according to color.

The alcove was beautiful with its slow transition from light colors to darker ones. Only four items were a permanent fixture in Shiro’s pocket: the fireproof handkerchief, an acorn, a blade shard, and a small piece of carved wood that was Keith’s plate. These were the four items that Keith would not part with to the safety of the alcove in Shiro’s room.

Shiro never questioned it.

 

* * *

 

Some would ask what Shiro got out of taking care of Keith. They didn’t see the point when Keith did nothing for Shiro.

Then again, no one seemed puzzled when Shiro braved extreme cold climate without the safety of extra layers of fur in his attire. No one questioned how strange it was that Shiro never got lost in any forestry which he had never ventured into. No one commented on Shiro’s luck at avoiding strike after strike from his enemies.

All the while, Keith purred around its precious hoard and ignored the swaying of its home every time Shiro ventured on his missions.

Keith didn’t like to leave the lovely domain of Shiro’s pocket except for when Shiro was asleep. Shiro had a strong heartbeat that Keith loved to listen to. It was always erratic when the knight was awake but when Shiro rested in his quarters or in his tent, his heartbeat would slow to the perfect rhythm that Keith appreciated. Whether it was sleeping over Shiro’s chest (when Shiro slept on his back) or perching in the crook of Shiro’s neck (when the knight slept on his side/stomach), Keith preferred Shiro’s calm heartbeat rather than the confines of his pocket any day.

If Keith woke up with Shiro stroking the dragon’s red scales, Keith would sigh and emit the loudest purr, enjoying the resulting rumble that resonated in its body when Shiro chuckled out loud.

No one was ever there to witness their little adorable morning routine. By the time Shiro was ready to leave his room and start the day, Keith was already nibbling on a newly peeled grape, nesting against the fireproof handkerchief and surrounded by other precious trinkets in Shiro’s right pocket.

 


	2. Of Potions and Braids

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I swear this story will get serious some time soon. But maybe not, too. I MEAN ITS CRACK AFTER ALL.

 

“No, Shiro, you don’t understand,” Matt had pulled out various rolls of parchment, quills, ink bottles, charcoal and other writing tools as he continued, “I have learned _elvish_ just to access their sacred library on dragons, asked basically everyone we know of in the Alliance and there is _not_ _a single_ documented dragon that resembles Keith.” He then sat down and arranged all his tools on the table, “So you just sit there…! While I ask you every possible question so that I can document everything about Keith.”

Shiro, who had been sitting opposite the seat Matt was currently occupying, staring at his on-the-verge-of-being-hysterical friend, simply shrugged noncommittally and replied, “Okay.”

“Okay.” Matt sighed, “Right, what can you tell me about Keith before I question you?”

“I think Keith is a ‘he’, not an ‘it’ so I’m going by ‘he’ from now on.”

“Not relatable but continue.” Dragons were basically genderless but Matt scribbled something onto his parchment nonetheless.

Shiro peered into his pocket where Keith was currently biting the blade shard repeatedly, “I think he’s teething? He’s been biting everything he could. He has red scales with 7 different shades. Maybe more.”

“That’s good, keep going.”

“He hoards 9 to 10 items a day. He likes to cuddle his newest item first before it can leave my pocket and to the alcove.” Shiro tilted his head to think of what else he knew about Keith, “Oh! He has about 122 scales in total.”

Matt suddenly stopped writing to look up to Shiro, “What?”

“I count his scales when I can’t sleep.”

“Shiro, normal people count sheep.”

“Well, normal people don’t have small dragons living in their pockets.”

Matt couldn’t even argue with that so he just shook his head and went back to writing, “Why’d you name it Keith anyway?”

“That’s what he said his name was.”

Again, Matt stopped writing. He slowly looked up to his friend again, eyes widening at the revelation, “YOU CAN SPEAK DRAGON? THIS WHOLE TIME?”

Shiro didn’t seem to understand what the big deal was, “No, it just came to me from Keith. He sends me images. And I can feel what he’s feeling sometimes.”

Matt deliberately slammed his head onto the wooden desk. Shiro had a dragon familiar and the guy didn’t even know it. Wonderful.

 

* * *

 

Hunk hummed at the strange luminous green sludge in the cauldron, “Is it supposed to look like that?”

“Shh!” Pidge hissed as she read the text again. She had developed a new concoction that should solve Lance’s current uneven hairline issue. Pidge formulated a new shampoo that would grow hair that was as soft as silk, “It should be done. I just have to let it simmer for two more minut-“

Shiro walked into the potions lab with Keith peeking from Shiro’s right pocket, “What are you guys doing?”

“Pidge was just about done with Lance’s shampoo!” Hunk cheerfully exclaimed, “Although it’s green and icky and just plain gross but at least Lance won’t mope anymore. His hairline is still messed up and its been weeks.”

“It’s not just a shampoo Hunk!” Pidge started unrolling her scrolls that consisted of all her theories and began explaining what she really tried to achieve. She wanted a shampoo that could make the hair healthier and grow substantially longer after only a single use. It started a deep conversation between the three of them, enough to distract them to the point that no one saw Keith fly towards the steaming hot cauldron.

The smell of the green sludge was enough to tickle Keith’s sensitive snout.

Pidge’s eyes widened when she spotted the small dragon hovering too close over her creation, “Keith! Be careful, that's extremely volati-“

With the correct itch in its nose, Keith’s body reared back slightly before the tiny dragon sneezed a fireball; its tail hitting the edge of the cauldron. Hunk dodged the flame easily while Shiro immediately went to retrieve Keith before the dragon slammed into anything. Luckily, no one was hurt but Pidge knew that something had happened to the green sludge. The mixture turned into an ominous crimson color before bubbling despite Pidge putting out the flame earlier.

Hunk stared at it with a wary look, “It’s…not supposed to be that color after the two-minute simmer, right…?”

“Let’s find out..” The mage gulped audibly as she used a ladle to transfer some of the shampoo into a glass vial. Once she capped it with a cork, she heard a trill-like chirp as the glass vial vibrated suddenly.

“AH!” Pidge shouted in surprise, dropping the vial accidentally and causing it to shatter once it hit the floor. She looked up at Hunk, panic in her eyes and posture, “Y-You heard that, right?”

Before Hunk could answer, the warbling sound emitted again, except it emitted from the red blob that had formed on the floor. Keith seemed to answer with a gentle cry, flying away from Shiro’s hand and towards the red blob.

The weirdest thing happened between one second to the next. The red blob, whatever it was, began rubbing itself against an equally thrilled Keith, both communicating through chirps and soft dragon cries. Then, both seemed to purr, nuzzling each other after voicing out all they had to say.

Neither Pidge nor Hunk had time to discern the extremely strange incident before the red blob made its move. It extracted itself from the small dragon, chirped excitedly and then physically but very quickly started climbing Pidge’s body. The red blob twirled around her head and then jumped towards Hunk’s shoulder before it started twirling around Hunk’s head as well.

Shiro couldn’t even do anything but grip his sword as his friends started screaming and shouting in panic because the red blob was suddenly back on the ground, making happy warbles before sliding out of the room. Shiro couldn’t help but notice the very visible trail of… foam that the red blob left behind.

There was a serene moment where time seemed to stop because Hunk and Pidge realized that there was something there that wasn’t there before. Pidge seemed to be thrown back to her younger days when she had maintained her long hair and Hunk was just in shock because there was suddenly a noticeable weight on his head. Worst part of it all? Their newly extended luscious glistening hair were styled in ridiculous braids.

Shiro’s laughter echoed throughout the whole potions lab, followed by intermittent screams throughout the castle where the red blob had tracked down more hair.

 

* * *

 

Princess Allura was probably the most excited about her intricate braids. She allowed the red blob to ‘bless beauty’ on everyone in her kingdom. The red blob, later named ‘Suds’ by Pidge, wasn’t exactly alive but it was definitely on a vicious mission to make everyone’s hair longer, healthier, shinier and… braid-ier.

No one bothered to correct their hair length after discovering that Suds would just fix them up again. Unless Pidge urged Suds to return to a glass vial, it would forever seek new hair to shampoo and braid. What drove Pidge and Hunk through the roof was the fact that they could not perceive what actually happened to cause the creation of Suds (and all the other blobs Pidge had transferred from the cauldron). It had something to do with Keith’s sneeze, that was for sure.

 

* * *

 

It was a chilly night and the knights had just returned from their daily patrols when Lance approached Shiro, both with respectable high ponytails neatly tied up.

“You know, Shiro? Months ago, I thought you having a dragon hoarding in your right pocket was the weirdest thing I’d ever seen.”

Shiro seemed puzzled, “You’ve seen something weirder than me having a dragon living in my pocket?”

Lance deadpanned, “Shiro, our _horses_ have braids. A shampoo blob attacked the heads of _everyone_ in the castle. I can assure you, Keith is very _very **very**_ low on the list of weird things I’ve seen.”

Well, put it that way, even Shiro couldn’t refute. He bid Lance and the other knights a good night before he made his way to his quarters.

Shiro went through his normal nightly routine - removing his armor, allowing Keith to arrange the new items into the alcove, taking a quick bath and then finally, crawling into the warm sheets of his bed before lying back with Keith on his chest.

It was one of those nights when Shiro couldn’t exactly sleep so he started counting Keith’s scales as he always did. Shiro counted once. Then twice. Then thrice. His slowly increasing erratic heartbeat caused the dragon to stir from its slumber.

Shiro apologized to his small friend but instead of calming his heartbeat, the knight sat up, carried the dragon in his palm and proceeded to leave his room. Three flights of stairs and 6 corridors later, Shiro slammed open the door to the Holt siblings’ quarters.

Both Matt and Pidge were reading in their respective chairs because they rarely slept while in pursuit of knowledge. They looked up to Shiro with inquisitive looks. It wasn’t often someone was up in the castle so late into the night.

Shiro blurted out in a slightly higher pitched voice, “Keith only has 121 scales! He had 122 scales but now he only has 121..!”

Matt frowned, “Shiro, wha-“

“He’s never lost a scale before Matt. In the past 6 months, he has never lost a single scale. And the last time I counted was bef-“

Pidge continued in daunting realization, “-before Suds…”

“Yeah,” Shiro gulped, “His tail.. it um, it hit the cauldron. I think one of his scales fell inside.”

 

* * *

 

Matt’s documentation of 'Keith The Dragon' gained a whole new chapter about ‘Special Dragon Scales Usage in Potions’ and Pidge sadistically created three more animated concoctions that terrorized the castle after Keith generously donated some of its scales in return for heating and expansion charms in Shiro’s pocket.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to think that everyone will embrace their long hair for the remaining publication of this fic. (Lance knows he's fab with the high ponytail and would probably keep it for as long as Shiro would keep his)


	3. Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are finally getting serious I guess lol but still with a pinch of ridiculousness thrown in hahahah

 

Shiro was used to the images that Keith usually sent him. Sometimes the dragon used it to tell Shiro if it was too cold or too hot or if it was hungry. Sometimes Keith used it to save Shiro’s ass by giving clues on what to do or where to go during his missions. But lately, Keith’s been sending Shiro some weird images. It was a cave entrance of some sort. It was becoming too frequent to ignore it anymore especially after Keith started sending vague images of map scrolls that looked similar to the ones Lance and Matt used to create battle plans for the kingdom.

And so, that was how Matt and Pidge eventually found Shiro kneeling in the library with various scrolls spread out on the floor and Keith’s head poking out of the knight’s pocket.

Matt waited till Shiro looked up to his incredibly unimpressed face before he spoke, “I think I’ve been asking you this too frequently lately but _what_ are you doing?”

Shiro unconsciously moved his left hand in circular motions as he explained what he could recall, “Keith keeps showing me this place... And a map but just a portion of it. So I was hoping to find something… similar.. But no luck so far."

Matt frowned with pursed lips, obviously taking interest with anything related to the dragon he was documenting, “What does.. 'this place' look like?”

“A cave. It looked deep and dark. Kinda scary. Keith sends the same image to me at least a few times a day. I basically got the shape of the map down but I can’t find it yet.” Shiro finished with frustration in his voice.

The Holt siblings exchanged a look before Pidge went to one of the library's large windows and opened it. She held out her right hand expectantly. Abruptly, a large bird landed gracefully on her small arm without injury despite its sharp talons. It was a glorious eagle with curious golden eyes gleaming as it stared at the mage with a tilt in its head. Pidge seemed to communicate with the bird silently before she released it and watched it as the bird took flight.

“What was that?” Shiro inquired.

“She went and called Lance.” Matt clarified.

Shiro didn’t argue because if anyone else knew the maps in the castle better than Matt, it’d be Lance. Matt may have assisted with the drawings of the maps, but it was Lance who had memorized them like the back of his hand. He wasn’t the Royal Tactician and Shiro’s right hand for no reason after all.  

Matt sat down next to his friend and gave Keith’s head a few gentle one-finger strokes, “So, tell me more about this cave you’re looking for.”

 

* * *

 

Lance was frowning.

No, it wasn’t because of Pidge’s stupid bird almost killing him with its claws just to get him to the library.

No, it wasn’t because Shiro needed help finding a place with very little to work. Other than some weird drawing of what Shiro _swore_ was the map he had visions of, all Lance had was a vague description of a ‘creepy’ cave.

No, Lance was frowning because his head was screaming  _what the heck is going on_.

“Is no one concerned that we’re trying to find a place because of _Keith?_   _The dragon?_ ..I mean, what-.. Why-“ Lance desperately turned to Shiro, “ _How?!_ Since when have you even been able _to talk_ to Keith?!” Lance almost shouted.

Matt simply patted Lance’s shoulder. He completely understood the utter confusion Lance was facing. After all, Matt felt the exact same way all those days ago.

“I’ve always been able to talk to Keith.” Shiro replied innocently as though he expected everyone to already have that knowledge.

The doors to the library suddenly opened and in walked Princess Allura with Hunk trailing behind her. Hunk was carrying two happily chattering mice in his hands while two more were sitting on Allura’s shoulders, playing with her hair.

The princess smiled serenely, “The mice informed me that an important discussion was being held in the library.”

Lance’s mouth gaped at the former part of that sentence but instead of reacting the way he did with Shiro and Keith, he simply buried his face in his palms and sighed heavily.

 

* * *

 

Eventually, after Lance was able to look past the strange recurring phenomenon of his princess talking to mice and his superior talking to a tiny dragon, he was able to focus and match Shiro’s awful-excuse-of-a-map drawing to an actual scroll.

It would have been an exciting moment if it wasn’t for the fact that the place was basically located in Death Valley, a place surrounded by high mountains with enchanted forests and a fast flowing purple river. The only reason that map even existed was because Pidge needed some ingredients from the enchanted forests there and she had brought Hunk and Lance with her. They never spoke of their time there. And no one dared to ask. 

“This.” Lance whispered gravely, “Is a _horrible_ idea.”

Hunk physically looked ill at the thought of the valley, "I agree with Lance. Bad idea. No-go. Danger zone."

Pidge hummed in thought, “On a scale of Matt giving Keith alcohol just to watch if he would hiccup flames.. to Lance asking the Vampire Queen if she would die in the Sun, how bad is it _truly?_ ” Unlike Lance and Hunk, she loved the valley. The only reason she didn't speak about it was because she didn't want anyone else to know about the wonderful finds in those enchanted forests.

Hunk snickered, “Probably as bad as when you tried to _make_ a griffin.”

The mage recoiled in faux offense, “Excuse me, the griffins were not _my_ idea.”

Everyone looked to Matt who was innocently pretending he had heard none of what was said.

Keith gave out a soft cry before flying out of Shiro’s pocket. The dragon landed on the map and tapped its front leg on a specific part of the Death Valley, its small talons almost scratching the map in the process. Keith was looking up at Shiro the whole time, sending Shiro more and more images of the cave.

Shiro put on his serious face as he leaned down to pick Keith up in his palm, “We have to go there guys. Keith never led me wrong before. He wouldn’t lead me wrong now.”

Princess Allura nodded her head curtly, “I have faith in your familiar, Shiro. If Keith has been sending you repetitive messages to lead you to that cave, then you have my permission.”

Lance was still not happy about going to Death Valley again but he looked at Keith and remembered how that little guy had once stopped them from following a path that would lead them straight to an ambush trap. It was an incident that only Lance noticed because he was next to Shiro when the dragon started crying out from its pocket-home. Shiro had paused and held out his arm to stop their progress. The knight frowned for a while before he turned to his troops, instructing them that they needed to follow another route. Lance was dumbfounded and was about to retort but then Shiro clasped the back of Lance’s neck and said with so much conviction, “Trust me.”

And Lance did.

They detoured and followed another path with much higher ground. When they passed by the original route and examined it from above, Lance could see that the path was packed with enemy troops in hiding. Shiro and Lance planned a surprise attack and easily conquered the opposing party in a matter of minutes.

In midst the celebration of their victory, Lance had pushed aside the incident about Keith’s warning cry. But he had never forgotten. Honestly, he shouldn’t even be surprised that Shiro could talk to Keith. There were always hints of it like when Shiro suddenly bent down to pick a weird pink flower before dropping in his pocket simply because Keith 'had asked for it'. Still, the confirmation was just jarring.

Lance sighed again with his head hanging down.

In the end though, he lifted his chin up, crossed his arms and fixed Keith with a stern expression, “This better be good, Keith.”  

The little dragon huffed a small breath of flames before leaping off Shiro’s palm and flying back into the knight’s pocket.

Matt, who was standing beside Shiro, peeked inside the pocket and slowly started frowning, “Is that _my handkerchief?!_ ”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you didn't notice, I incorporated elements of the show into this chapter. Also, yes, I made Lance as Shiro's second-in-command but I also implied Keith as a pseudo leader as well since he's the one guiding Shiro around and whatnot. 
> 
> Get ready for Death Valley!!!


	4. Death Valley (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little heavier than all the previous chapter! We are at Death Valley after all.

 

If anyone were to ask Hunk how on Earth their whole party got surrounded by werewolves at the edge of the totally-suspicious-looking purple river in Death Valley, he’d have to say it was definitely Pidge’s fault.

“Hunk, I heard that! And Lance, don’t even _think_ about insulting them!”

Both Hunk and Lance turned to Pidge with something akin to joy at having one of their theories proven right despite their current predicament, “I KNEW YOU COULD READ MINDS” they shouted together.

Matt sighed, “No Hunk, you said everything out loud and Lance, sarcasm and insults are your defense mechanism when it comes to magical creatures.”

They were starting to huddle among each other, none of them looking back to the river, fearing that the werewolves would attack the moment their backs were turned.

Shiro was ready to withdraw his sword but Keith was telling him not to. It was really hard to hold himself back especially since Princess Allura was with them. Although the princess was a sorceress she did not believe in using her powers for the decimation of other magical beings. The mice had informed her that Keith wished for her to follow the expedition. When Shiro discouraged her, she firmly shut him down. Unfortunately, not even an hour into Death Valley and they were already chased to the river by a pack of werewolves. The situation did not look good for them but just as they reached the river bank, the moon disappeared.

The werewolves ceased their growling and their posture relaxed slightly. Suddenly, the head of the pack with glowing red eyes started hunching. It’s brilliantly white fur began receding, bones began popping, until finally, a naked man was kneeling in front of them.

He didn’t seem to mind his state of undress, rather he seemed proud of it. The red eyes remained glowing, followed by striking albino features and a pale body. His face was not exquisitely handsome but there was a certain charming look to it. Politely, the whole group avoided looking at his bottom assets.   

“Greetings foreign dwellers.” The werewolf bowed his head slightly, “I am alpha of the werewolf pack in Death Valley. I must say, your timing is impeccable. The moon will not call to us for another two hours or so. No harm shall come to you from my pack _for the time being_.”

Shiro nodded his head, “It’s nice to meet you. We come from the southern kingdom. I am-“

“Shiro, the bravest knight, of course.” the werewolf finished with a toothy smile. He seemed to enjoy the simultaneous looks of suspicion from the party, “Fret not, your personal details have already been verified by the Death Valley. After all, not all may past its entrance without a specific purpose. Although…” the werewolf turned to look at Pidge, “…some choose to come and go as they please.”

Pidge merely raised a single eyebrow in a challenging manner.

“Now then, what is your purpose exactly, venturing into these parts of the valley?”

Allura was the one to step forward and said, “There is a cave we wish to visit. My knight’s familiar brought us here.”

“Ah yes. The so-called ‘dragon’ you have in your pocket.”

Lance frowned, “What do you mean by ‘so-called’?”

The werewolf merely smiled sweetly in response to Lance. He then turned back to Allura, “You should make haste then. The cave will close soon and will not open in no less than another hundred centuries.” He bowed his head again, “I would offer you luck but my pack has not hunted humans for two generations. It’d be a wonderful pack activity. Of course, we’d use all of your body parts for cultivation after the maiming exercise.” He said easily, as though he wasn’t talking about their deaths.

“How about-“ Lance started striding forward, only to be stopped by both Shiro and Hunk, “I cultivate my _fist_ in your _fac_ -“

Pidge charmed Lance’s mouth sealed before he could finish. A threat to an alpha was basically a ticket to a free hunt for the pack.

The alpha werewolf smirked towards the mage, surprised and intrigued at Pidge’s quick thinking, “Shame. I would have appreciated the challenge.” And with that, the man began shifting back into its large wolf form. It howled a long eerie cry with its head thrown back before turning and running towards the forest; the pack following their leader’s steps and quickly disappeared into the dense forest trees.

Hunk let out a huge sigh of relief after all the werewolves were gone, “That was close…”

Matt crossed his arms with a disapproving face directed at Pidge, “Am I sensing some bad blood there, baby sister?”

Pidge was scowling at where the alpha had stood, mumbling coherently enough for everyone to hear, “There was never good blood between us anyway.” She dispelled the charm on Lance and started walking ahead of the group towards where the cave should be located.

Matt watched his sister go with a resigned slump in his shoulders. Mages had an uncanny ability to charm animals. When it came to werewolves, well, they were a type of creature that was both human and animal. Some mages of old had been known to have physically forced a werewolf in its wolf form to obey their commands. It was unethical and downright cruel. The bond between mages and werewolves were never the same ever since.

Everyone aside from Pidge exchanged knowing looks before they started following the mage. With Keith’s help through Shiro, they eventually saw the cave from afar. However, the moment they crossed two large trees and onto a large muddy clearing, Matt and Hunk felt a rush through their bodies.

“Guys, stop.” Hunk said loud enough for the whole group to hear.

Matt approached his sister first, “Pidge, do you feel anything?”

The mage concentrated on her magical core and felt that nothing was wrong, “No, why?”

“That’s bad.” Hunk’s eyes bulged.

Allura frowned, “Why is it bad?”

Hunk knelt on one knee and pressed his palm onto the muddy ground, “I have an affinity for elemental magic, specifically earth. Put it simply, I can feel the magic in the ground. And this place is telling me that this ground is… wrong? Sick, maybe? And Pidge can sense and cast magic. Matt can only sense it. So in a way, Matt can sense better. But if Pidge can’t sense anything when Matt can, then…”

Matt cautiously examined every inch of the clearing they were in, “If my sister can’t sense anything, then that means there are very strong wards here. Powerful ones with very strong concealments." Matt gulped as he felt something trying to close around his throat, "It’s almost suffocating me.”

Keith, who had been quietly residing in Shiro’s pocket the whole journey, suddenly took flight and swiftly flew out of the knight’s pocket.

“KEITH!” Shiro shouted after his friend.

Lance immediately took off to catch the dragon since Keith flew in his direction and then right past him, “Keith, get back here!”

“Lance, wait!” Allura called after him.

There were more jumbled protests from Hunk, Matt and Pidge but Lance continued chasing the stupid dragon, eventually ending up in another part of the forest. There was no way he was going to let Keith get away with running after bringing them all the way to Death Valley. In the end, Lance found Keith perched on top of a tree branch too high for him to reach. The tree branches were so entwined that Lance was not sure which one its bark was.

“I swear to God, Keith!" Lance shouted between pants, "I will roast you for dragon soup if you don’t get down here!”

Keith simply stared at Lance without moving from its perch. All of a sudden, Lance heard fluttering noises. He looked up at the dragon again and realized that things were starting to sparkle around in the thick trees. Searching in his mind database for those specific details; fluttering noises, sparkling, tree dwellers, Lance concluded that he was in fact surrounded by fairies.

Lance sighed at Keith, “First the hair and Suds, then you bring me to the one place I never wanted to go again and now… _fairies._ You really love driving me crazy, don’t you Keith?”

If anything, Lance would say that Keith looked absolutely beatific. _That little menace._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry Lance but Keith still loves you anyway. I promise things will get lighter next chap hahahah Thank you so much for sticking with this weird ass fic~ (I think the alpha werewolf sounds like Lotor but it is in fact, not Lotor)
> 
> Note: The alpha referred to the time when Pidge came to Death Valley with Hunk and Lance. She technically had permission to enter and the valley didn't mind her taking things but unfortunately, the things she took were in the werewolf territory and they weren't too happy about that. Especially when it was a mage that stole from them. So yeah. 
> 
> I'll also explore everyone's quirky magic and non-magic status in future chapters.


	5. Death Valley (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back at it again with these lovable idiots and their lovable antics.

 

“Lance! Where are you?” Allura shouted for the umpteenth time. She was with Pidge and Hunk whereas Shiro was with Matt in another part of the forest. They didn’t know where Lance had run off to since he was exceptionally quick on his feet. And Keith being the swift dragon flyer that it was, would be unpredictable in its flight patterns. Splitting up was a bad idea but they had promised to meet at the awful clearing in about an hour whether or not they had found Lance.

After a few more calling shouts from all three of them, they eventually heard a muffled reply from what sounded like Lance’s voice. Luckily, being Lance’s best friend, Hunk could easily verify that it _was_ Lance. But Pidge and Allura were still on high alert since enchanted forests usually had a nasty sadistic streak and would probably indulge in confusing them and straying them farther away from their friend.

They did find Lance though after a few more back and forth shouting. However, Lance was not particularly on the ground. Rather, he was floating a few feet in the air.

“Um… What are you doing?” Hunk asked with a curious yet concerned expression.

“Oh, y’know,” Lance sarcastically drawled, “ _hanging_ _out_ with my _good_ buddy Keith here.”

Yes, they did note that Lance was floating near a branch where the dragon sat leisurely.

Pidge watched Lance with child-like eyes that were filled with awe, “How are you even floating like that? Fascinating.” She let her magic flow and felt around the trees. Soon, Pidge was able to pick a _very distinct_ magical signature that made her snicker, “Oooooh, _fairies_ , Lance~? Really?”

“Oh!” Allura clapped her hands together, “I’ve never seen one before! Are they as lovely as everyone says they are?”

“Yes, they’re beautiful.” Lance admitted with crossed arms and a petulant scowl.

Allura seemed perplexed, “I thought you’d fancy pretty ladies, Lance.” _No matter the size or species_ , Allura added in her head.

“I _do_ but-!“ Lance demonstrated a midair outburst with animated hand gestures towards the innocent-looking dragon, “Keith gave them _three_ pieces of lint for floating me! THREE!”

Hunk deadpanned, “Are you seriously upset because a bunch of fairies got more lint from Keith than you did.”

“ _THREE!_ ” Lance continued shouting indignantly which he emphasized by counting out three of his fingers.

Pidge mumbled to herself as she squinted at Keith, “Where does he even _keep_ the lint…?”

The princess ignored the ridiculousness of whatever was going on and voiced out her thoughts, “I don’t believe we’re getting anywhere without Shiro to help us communicate with Keith for an explanation.”

“You’re right, I should get Matt.” Pidge walked to a clear enough patch of ground and knelt down on one knee.

“How are you gonna do that? They could be anywhere.” They still had plenty of time before the agreed time to regroup at the previous clearing.

Pidge smirked at Hunk and slowly withdrew a small dagger from her hidden ankle sheath, “Blood magic is _always_ the answer.”

“WHAT?!” Allura, Hunk and Lance screeched simultaneously.

Before they could protest, Pidge quickly sliced the blade through her left palm and then she pressed the bloody wound onto the ground. She whispered a few Latin words to request the forest to bring her blood relative to her location. When she lifted her hand from the ground, her pooled blood glowed a beautiful golden color as it was literally absorbed into the dirt.

After sheathing her dagger, the mage healed her hand with a smile, “Well, it worked. They’ll be here soon.”

Too soon, Matt and Shiro showed up to where Lance was still floating.

“What’d we miss?” Shiro smiled upon arrival and then looked up to Lance without a hint of surprise or shock to see his friend in the air, “Oh there you are, Lance! And you caught Keith too!”

Lance ignored Shiro in favor of shouting at Matt, “Your sister performed _blood magic_ to get you guys here!”

“I know, isn’t it great!” Matt beamed proudly.

The whole group (aside from a smug-looking Pidge) recoiled with wide eyes.

“What, no!” Shiro cried.

“I know, isn’t it awful!” Matt corrected with a frown and crossed arms. He shook his head in pseudo disappointment towards his sister whom he approached in three quick strides. Everyone narrowed their eyes at the Holt siblings who whispered in excitement and secretly bumped their fists together.

“Alright, back to the situation at hand.” Allura directed their attention to the main problem, “Shiro, can you ask Keith why he brought Lance here and why my knight is currently floating in midair.”

Shiro smiled up at Keith and let the dragon send him fragmented messages.

“Um.. It’s something to do with that clearing we were in. He’s saying that the fairies can purify it but they.. want something in return first? I think Keith came here to negotiate terms but when Lance followed, they took him instead.” Shiro’s eyes bulged at the incoming images, “I think… I think Keith exchanged some lint to hold them off from taking Lance immediately as payment.”

The group was quiet as they took all the information in.

Lance was the first to speak, very slowly, “Are you saying… that I’m only worth _THREE PIECES OF LINT?!_ ”

Pidge couldn’t help from bursting out with laughter while Matt and Allura just look exasperated.

“Wait, why would they accept Lance as a sacrifice?” Hunk asked out loud.

Shiro directed the question to Keith and then voiced Keith’s answer to the rest, “They’re saying that humans make great fertilizers.”

Hunk held the fingertips from both his hands to his temples and let out his frustration, “What… _is it_ with magical creatures and their cultivation using the human race!”

Matt was rubbing one hand on his chin, “Why is the clearing so important to purify anyway?”

“Keith says its because that’s the only way to the cave. The wards won't let us pass through to the cave. It has to be... banished or purified since its dark magic. And we’re running out of time.” Shiro's face took on a serious expression as he continued voicing out what his dragon was trying to say, “And I won’t get Keith back until the deal is made. The fairies don’t trust us not to betray them so they’re… keeping Keith with them.” Shiro didn’t like it but Keith was quick to assure him that the fairies meant no harm to the dragon.

“Is there anything we can offer the fairies in return for purifying the land, aside from Lance of course.” Allura smiled softly at her knight who was quickly growing bored from where he was still floating.

Pidge quickly assessed her own memory database to pluck out any information about fairies. She knew that most fairies loved nature and loved watching plants or trees bloom and grow. It was rumored that every living plant had their own guardian-fairy. And the fairies dealt with one emotion at a time. Currently, they were very lucky that the fairies were not outright angry at them. Instead, Pidge could feel their curiosity at the presence of so many humans. Well, better curiosity than animosity.

Assuming that they were nature-loving fairies… “I have an idea.” Pidge cut through whatever conversation the group was having, “We give them Aqua.”

Silence reigned the group again before Matt responded with his infamous flat disapproving voice, “You brought them.”

Pidge unbuttoned one of the pouches on her hip and opened the flap. Immediately, the familiar warbling and trilling noises of the animated concoctions made using Keith’s scales were heard throughout the area.

Keith cried out from the tree branch in what was assumed to be a happy cry at hearing his blob friends again.

Lance sighed.

Shiro smiled softly and looked reminiscent.

Hunk just whispered a soft, “Oh no.”

Matt simply accepted the situation with a resigned shake of his head. He was done. Very done.

Allura seemed excited at the colorful vials of potions, “Is Suds here?” She received a particularly loud warbling response from the crimson vial where the animated shampoo lived in.

“C’mon out, Aqua.” Pidge uncapped the cork to a blue vial and tilted the mouth towards the ground. She watched as a chirping blob drop onto the ground with an indecent squish noise, “Show the fairies what you can do.”

The exhilarated chirp reply was deafening as the sapphire blob started creeping on the ground in quick fluid movements.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'd think I'd get over it with just Suds, huh? Nope, those blobs are the soul of this AU hahahah
> 
> We're reaching the end of Death Valley soon (Because we're almost to the cave but the cave might take two chapters so yeah)
> 
> It is also important to note that Keith doesn't actually speak words to Shiro, just sends messages using images and possibly the alphabets of some words that Keith is familiar with.


	6. Death Valley (Part 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last part of Death Valley! We're at the cave soon~ Kudos to whoever figures out what's gonna happen XD

 

The fairies absolutely adored Aqua. The little blob had quickly watered all the plants and trees it could reach within the vicinity. And the result was instantaneous. The plants flourished, the trees bloomed with flowers, and the grass glistened beautifully. Similar with Suds, Aqua’s ‘squirt’ of water was no ordinary liquid. It contained all the right nutrients for every type of plant Pidge had gotten info on from Matt (which was at least thousands).

Aqua paused from watering more plants when Pidge told it to. The blob wobbled to a stop and chirped excitedly when Pidge praised it like she would a child. The friendly nature of Aqua was enough to coax the fairies out of their glamour and to approach the blob. Something that would be able to keep Mother Nature strong and healthy as Aqua was probably a blessing in the eyes of the fairies.

Pidge, in hopes that the fairies understood human language, started explaining about Aqua. The fairies didn’t respond any more than just staring at Pidge, but they gladly accepted Aqua’s glass vial without complaint when the mage held it out. Once the exchange was recognized by the fairies, both Keith and Lance were slowly lowered to the humans.

Shiro cried out with so much relief, “Keith!”

The tiny dragon responded with an equally urgent cry.

Lance deadpanned with mock-hurt, “What am I, then?”

“Other than someone worth _three_ pieces lint?” Hunk teased.

“Oh har har, _real_ funny Hunk.” Lance crossed his arms. When he finally touched the ground, his expression changed into that of a very awed one as he turned to Pidge, “Wise mage… your creation has saved me from the clutches of the fairies.”

Pidge slowly started to back away and frowned at the knight’s weirdly revered intonation.

“In return…” Lance smiled serenely with the a horrible glint in his eye, “It is my duty as a knight to return the favour-“

“No.” Pidge took a firm step back, catching up to what Lance was about to do.

“-in the form of a very loving hug-“

“NO.”

In a split second, both Pidge and Lance broke into a run; the knight chasing after the mage with his arms wide open.

“GET AWAY FROM ME, LANCE!”

“I DON’T MAKE THE RULES, PIDGE~” Lance shouted gleefully.

Bless the mage’s short legs, Lance eventually caught Pidge and easily hugged her off the ground. Hunk soon joined by wrapping his arms around both Lance and the now straight-faced Pidge.

Allura chuckled at the open display of affection between her knights and mage. In the other corner, Keith was rubbing its head against Shiro’s smiling cheek. The dragon’s purring was almost as loud as Aqua’s chirping among the fairies. There was so much love in the air, even Matt was affected. He approached the princess with an air of grace that he displayed only in her presence, “My lady, it seems we are the only ones not engaged in the loving act of… a ‘hug’.”

The princess played along with a teasing reply, “You seem to be right, Matt. What ever shall we do?”

Matt took a step into Allura’s personal space and smiled sincerely, “Well, perhaps we should rectify tha-“

“NOPE.” Lance suddenly called out as he started squeezing in between Matt and the princess, “Hug time is over. No more hugs are allowed in this area until further notice.”

Matt glared playfully at the knight while Allura started laughing.

Lance began striding towards Shiro and his dragon, “That goes for you two as well. And Keith, just for getting me in this mess, you’re punished with a ‘No-Shiro’ timeout on my shoulder.” He plucked the dragon easily from Shiro’s palm and placed Keith on his shoulder.

Shiro tried hard to suppress a laugh but Lance saw through it. He stared at Shiro until Shiro gave in, “It’s nothing. It’s just that.. Keith said it’s easier to set your hair on fire now.”

Turning his head sharply to the little dragon, Lance scolded, “No fireballs on Lancey Lance’s hair! Fine, I’ll make a trade.” Lance rummaged his pocket before pinching the small amount of powder he had. He sprinkled the colourful dust onto his shoulder, right in front of Keith.

“Fairy dust?” Shiro’s eyes widened.

“Well yeah. You didn’t think I was just _hanging around_ up there did you?”

Keith was ecstatic. Immediately, the dragon started gathering the dust in its arms. Keith lifted its body, allowing a small opening in its underbelly to swallow the dust.

Lance was almost too stunned to comment but then he realized, “So _that’s_ where he keeps his lint! An underbelly pouch!”

The sound of a quill scratching on parchment pulled all their attention to a very diligent Matt who was writing down all the new information on Keith as he sat on a tree stump. They knew he was writing about Keith because Matt had a very special scroll for documenting about the dragon (it was made and charmed by his sister).

“I still have no idea where he keeps that..” Lance muttered. It wasn’t as though Matt carried any form of bags and his cloak was not big enough to hide something like that. The parchment was _huge_ after all.

“Lance,” Hunk was so shocked, his eyes were bulging, “I was watching him the whole time and _I_ still have no idea where he keeps that.”

They all waited for Matt to finish writing as well as for the fairies to finally be able to urge Aqua back into its vial. The blob didn’t even mind the transfer of ownership as long as it had things to water and nourish. In time, they all returned to the muddy clearing where the purification ceremony took place. It was rather anticlimactic because all the fairies did was circle the clearing once and it was done. Just to make sure, Matt and Hunk examined the clearing and both said that the nasty feeling was gone.

After the fairies disappeared back to their homes, the party continued on their quest to the cave. They noted that it was much smaller up close. With little hesitation, they went inside. At first it was dark and only Pidge’s light orb led the way. The cave was rocky and did not have the best pathway. But then they were all hit with the soft caresses of foreign wind. And another source of light could be seen at the end of the cave.

It was coming from a shallow tunnel.

“Are we crawling through that?” Shiro asked first.

Allura did not look happy but she was curious as to where the light was coming from, “I suppose so. Is this the right way, Keith?”

The dragon perched on Lance’s shoulder ignored the question in favour of biting Lance’s shoulder pads.

“Hey, no! Stop that!” Lance engaged a rather intense battle with the dragon using his fingers.

Pidge and Hunk looked to each other and nodded. They both knelt down in from of the small tunnel and pressed their palms to the stone wall. Together, they sent out a combination of their magic to reach out towards the next room to scan for any malicious intent. Hunk’s elemental magic was not very strong but combined with Pidge’s raw magic, it was enough to amplify the Earth magic tenfold. It was a powerful combination that could weed out any dark intentions. But they were both surprised when they felt the complete opposite instead.

With approval from both Hunk and Pidge, the group started crawling one by one through the tunnel. They had to close their eyes towards the end when the light started to blind them.

When they all reached the other side of the tunnel, they could only stand and stare in awe and wonder in the room they ended up in. Five giant crystals stood sentry in a circle in the middle of the well-lit room, seeming to glow red, black, blue, green and yellow respectively.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo we're here we're hereeeeeeee


	7. The Cave of Ancients

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mostly plot for this chap and a bit o' fluff (PLUS ITS MY BIRTHDAY - 11th March)

 

Matt had never felt so overwhelmed before. The moment he passed through the small entrance of the cave, he felt something wash over him and suddenly… he saw things he had never seen before. Matt could not wield magic but he was able to sense it. Everyone had a different… wave or resonance of magic. His sister’s magic was like static, the princess’s magic was powerful and demanding, Hunk’s felt dampened but friendly, Lance’s was a little wild but felt fun and Shiro’s was barely present but it was very warm.

In that cave though, as Matt was standing still, he didn’t just _sense_ magic, he could literally _see_ it. And it was beautiful. Swirls of colour and sparks filled the room and danced around the princess, the knights and the mage. He could tell it was a reflection of their magic because the green sparks matched his sister’s magical signature and so did the others with their own colours and swirls. Tears started to fill Matt’s eyes from the sheer beauty of the whole scene. His theory on magic was right. It had always been ethereal.

 

* * *

 

“Matt?” Pidge tried to snap her brother out of his trance but to no avail. It was like he was staring at something in the nothingness of the room.

“He’ll be alright, Pidge.” Shiro comforted her with a hand on her shoulder, “Keith said he’s getting use to his new sight.”

“New _sight?_ What.. What is that supposed to mean?”

Shiro turned to the giant crystals, “I don’t know but… Keith said to go to the crystals.”

The dragon had flown back to Shiro when Lance and Hunk started exploring the crystals. Pidge and Allura were a little cautious but with Shiro’s encouragement on behalf of Keith, all of them approached the crystals.

None of them mentioned it out loud but they were undeniably attracted to specific crystals. Allura was standing near the crystal that looked like a giant aquamarine stone that was adorned with tiny pieces of rose quartz at the top. Lance was frowning at the ruby-coloured crystal that had a sapphire-like base. Pidge was staring (glaring) at the crystal that seemed to be a mixture of emerald and peridot. Hunk was circling the topaz-like crystal and Shiro stood in front of the giant onyx-like crystal that had little violet highlights in its middle.

Unconsciously, the five of them touched their respective crystals all at once.

They felt a tug in their abdomen before they lost sight and felt the world shift around them. When they came to, they found themselves in another realm, standing on an invisible plane in a world full of colourful wisps and swirls. Shiro, Lance, Hunk, Pidge and Allura were standing in a circle but were far apart from each other. All of them were entranced by the sight around them and it deterred them from concentrating on what had actually happened.

A voice cut through the plane, “This is what Matt sees now.”

They all turned to the unknown voice that came from the middle of the circle. There was someone standing there, wearing a foreign skintight armour that seemed to be made from dragon scales. His hair was black and was longer in the back than it was in the front. The person had a lithe male body and a lean frame with a domineering stance despite someone of his stature.

Lance immediately frowned and pointed an accusing finger, “Who’re you?! And that hair, is awful by the way.” Lance waved his hands into the air theatrically, “Who even _has_ hair like that these days?!”

That person gave Lance a mock-glare and crossed his arms, “Say what you gotta say to make yourself feel better. I’m not the one who had an uneven hairline for months.”

And just like that, everyone started staring at that person in a different light. All of them started to feel the same and questioned the same things. Did they knew this person? Had they seen him before? How did he knew Matt and how did he knew about Lance’s hair crisis?

That person stared at Lance who suddenly froze in place as memories started playing in his mind. Memories of fireballs and a tiny dragon, memories of the petty but friendly fights they had and the once powerful urge he had to give the dragon a small shard he had seen chipped from Shiro’s blade.

The person then shifted his eyes from Lance and took turns looking at everyone else.

When that person looked to Hunk, Hunk suddenly remembered something about his carving knife. And how he had sat down with it, working on a small plate that he was going to give to Shiro. He remembered packing small bite-sized meals for every expedition they had that would go hand-in-hand with that small plate.

When that person looked to Pidge, she felt her animated creations squirm excitedly in their glass vials and she remembered something about casting a few charms for a particular dragon. She remembered the tiny lint she still kept in the potions lab, a treasured gift from a rare creature.

When that person looked to Allura, she remembered the intelligent speech her mice informed her from Shiro’s familiar. She was impressed by the dragon’s fluent speech since her mice translated word by word. She trusted Shiro’s familiar despite its foreign and unknown lineage. She always believed in that little dragon.

Finally, the person’s eyes landed on Shiro. Earlier, Shiro had felt something just from hearing that person speak. Something about his voice and the way he spoke to Lance was familiar; the jibes that sounded more like friendly banter than actual insults. It was like he knew the person but at the same time, he did not because he’d never seen the person before.

Once their eyes met though, Shiro knew. He _knew_ those eyes. So many snippets of memories crossed Shiro’s mind. That time he counted his dragon’s scales for the first time to calm his breathing. That time he looked down into his pocket and a pair of familiar eyes looked up to him, sending him comforting thoughts. That time he felt lost but someone showed him the way. That time he felt like he didn’t have the strength to fight but suddenly he did. That time when he first felt the purr of his small friend in the palm of his hand. That time… when he first picked up the little thing from the ground and when it first let out a soft cry. That time... when the dragon told Shiro what its name was.

Shiro stopped breathing as _those eyes_ stared at him. He whispered so softly but everyone heard it, “…Keith…?”

The person didn’t respond at first but then his lips twitched and he… _Keith_ started smiling with fondness in his eyes. He didn’t say anything, instead he closed his eyes and the whole plane started glowing with a blinding white light.

The world they were in started disappearing from beneath them. Shiro panicked and started to reach out to that person, “KEITH!”

Keith was still smiling when he opened his eyes to look at Shiro again. Shiro willed himself to move. He started running but the light had already engulfed them before he could reach Keith.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE TELL ME IF YOU PREFER DRAGON KEITH, SOMEWHAT HUMAN KEITH OR BOTH (cuz I have ideas for all 3 routes but I can't choose)
> 
> I don't know if it's discussed much but I always felt like Keith was the reason that Voltron was even able to reemerge? I mean, if he didn't speculate the night 'something' would happen, he wouldn't have found Shiro and if he didn't agree to take Lance, Hunk and Pidge with him, they wouldn't have been able to pinpoint the lion's den nor have Lance activate the blue lion. So in a way, this part of the fic is similar such that it will be a catalyst to a big event similar to voltron but not really cuz its still (a little) cracky lol
> 
> Depending on whether you guys want dragon keith, human keith or both, this fic might end soon hahaha
> 
> Also yes, Keith is always reaching out for Shiro. I think its time Shiro reached out for Keith instead. (And no, this fic ain't sheith and it will never be anything but platonic but I won't stop any of you from interpreting it the way you want to, just... Please don't ask/expect shippy stuff from this fic other than preexisting ships)


	8. The Crystals' Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last of the forbidden forest arc!!!!! Also, special thanks to everyone who wished me and voted for what type of Keith you wanted!!

 

There was a time when Shiro and his troops encountered trolls. It was awful. It wasn’t because they were dumb brutes or anything, it was the opposite. The trolls were smart as heck and had _debated_ with Shiro. Honestly, Shiro never thought he’d ever have to fight with trolls using words. There were a lot of frustrated sighs from Shiro as he tried to explain why they suddenly started attacking the trolls without confronting them nicely first. When Shiro’s excuses offended them, the _real_ battle began and Shiro got clubbed on the head for his efforts.

Waking up at the moment felt similar to waking up after the troll battle. It was a slow process with a major headache waiting for him on the other side. A hiss escaped his lips as he came to. He felt… off. Like he was floating or something. When Shiro opened his eyes, it was to a side view of Matt’s panicked face.

He followed to where Matt was looking at and he realized many things at once.

  1. The ground was quite far below
  2. They were on a tree
  3. Everyone was awake but on different branches of about the same height
  4. Everyone was staring at the human that Shiro swore is Keith
  5. Keith was staring back at them
  6. From a branch on _another_ tree



“Um..” Shiro slowly sat up and paused when he heard the ominous creak from the large tree branch he shared with Matt, “Can someone tell me what’s going on here?”

Shiro assumed that everyone had just woken up too because they all looked to Matt for answers.

Matt blinked rapidly a few times and dry swallowed before he explained (while still staring at the other tree), “..the cave.. You guys just collapsed after touching the crystals and-.. and this.. this _totally-not-harmless-person_ materialized out of nowhere! And he just! Opened up a back door to the cave! AND- AND-!” Matt made gestures with his arms, “ _CARRIED_ ALL OF YOU ONE BY ONE ONTO THIS TREE! Then he-… I don’t know, asked me nicely? I guess? To carry me onto the tree too? And I…” Matt started to slump, “..let him.” Technically, the person’s magical signature was very familiar, so Matt couldn’t find it in his conscious to say ‘No’.

Shiro had listened while looking at Keith who was hiding most of himself among the tree leaves, “Keith?”

Lance gasped as he remembered what had happened after they touched the crystals.

“No way…” Pidge and Matt whispered at the same time.

Hunk simply had a surprised look on his face while Allura smiled softly.

Keith came out a little from his hiding place but not completely. He nodded a little in acknowledgement, “Shiro.”

And everyone lost it. So many questions started popping up from each one of them except Shiro because he could _feel_ Keith, more than he ever could before. There was a lot of fear and insecurity but there was also awe. Shiro suddenly realized that Keith was afraid they wouldn’t accept him.

Keith remained quiet though, even after everyone stopped asking. There was an awkward silence for quite some time as both parties just stared at each other.

Lance was probably the most ticked off because that was exactly how dragon-Keith was like. The little thing would just stare at Lance instead of giving him some sort of reaction. At least dragon-Keith had a reason of not being able to speak.

“I liked you better when you were a dragon.” Lance announced with crossed arms.

Keith came out from his hiding spot completely with a scowl on his face, “Yeah I liked you better when I was a dragon too.”

Another explosion of excitement broke out, one of it being Matt’s “GREAT MERLIN, KEITH SPOKE” and all its derivatives. Matt was quick to write all the new information on his ‘Keith Parchment’. Keith actually smiled at that.

“Keith, how come you never turned human before?” Allura asked curiously when everyone’s attention was on Matt and his magical parchment that no one seemed to know where he kept.

Keith shrugged, “No reason to.”

Hunk joined in the conversation and slowly lifted up his right hand, “Soooooo, there’s a reason now?”

Keith nodded.

Lance moved his hand in circular motions to urge Keith, “And the reason is?”

And then they were back to the silent staring.

Lance deadpanned, “I deem that Keith, is officially screwing with us with his cryptid-ness.”

Shiro suddenly started chuckling because he felt what Keith felt and yes, he was _definitely_ screwing with them. The two of them shared a look and a soft smile.

Pidge pinched her temple, “Oh great. Like Shiro and dragon-Keith staring wasn’t enough, now we get Shiro and human-Keith staring at each other and having quiet telepathic conversations.” The mage’s interest suddenly piqued, “Wait, _are_ you still connected to Shiro in this form?”

As an answer, Keith started sending Shiro some images that made the knight laugh out loud. Matt was soaking up everything and scribbling furiously.

Hunk looked a bit disheartened though, “Does this mean you’re not a dragon anymore?”

Keith turned to Hunk with a tilt of his head. He stood up on the tree branch he was sitting on and started walking to the edge of it. Keith looked at all of them, “I am both.”

And then he jumped.

Out of panic, Pidge had reached out and a _literal_ _tree branch_ elongated and directed itself to where Keith would have landed.

But Keith’s body had transformed during mid-jump; his armor had returned to being scales and his body shrunk while wings grew on his back. The familiar tiny dragon gave a cry and flew around the tree branch Pidge had grew.

Everyone was frozen in place. They didn’t know whether to be at awe with Keith’s shapeshifting ability or with the tree branch that had sprouted in the same direction Pidge’s left hand was reaching out to. As the mage pulled back her hand, so did the tree branch.

Keith flew towards them and nipped at the green markings that had appeared around Pidge’s left hand.

“What… What is this…?” Pidge lifted her hand to examine the intricate yet beautiful design of the markings that seemed to be part of her skin.

Shiro received a few images from Keith that made his eyes bulge, “Keith said… it’s the crystals. All of us.. got something from them…”

Immediately, everyone started trying to see what they had gotten. Keith flew back to Shiro and rubbed its snout against the knight’s cheek. Shiro already knew what he was gifted with based on Keith’s images. There was still some residual fear from the tiny dragon so Shiro cupped Keith in the palm of his hand and gently said, “No matter what you look like, you’re always ‘Keith’ to me.”

Keith’s overwhelming appreciation through their bond was not missed by the knight.

Meanwhile, Allura had gasped when she lifted her skirt and saw the pinkish blue markings around her right leg. It appeared when she began conjuring and controlling some sort of liquid matter. Hunk’s markings had appeared around his left leg but it was only partially visible due to his armor. Still, Hunk felt the Earth through his elemental magic better than ever and he started to control parts of the ground from hand movements alone. Pidge had went back to experimenting with the trees and plants. And Matt was just having a blast at watching all the bursts of magic that had the same signature as the crystals in the cave.

Lance was having a little bit of trouble because unlike the others, he never had magic or a magical family to begin with. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do or anything. After a few (excited) futile gestures, he opted to just sulk. He watched his friends happily controlling some sort of element while he was just sitting there. On a tree.

“Why are we even on a tree anyway?” Lance frowned.

There was a sudden rumbling that shook the ground before some small rocky hill started to melt and the hot molten remains began to flow on the ground. The tree barks were surprisingly sturdy enough to withstand the extreme heat.

Matt pointed to the ground, “That… was the cave.”

Lance looked to where Keith was perched on Shiro’s shoulder, “Well, at least you’re good for _something_ in your human form.”

Expectedly (for everyone except Lance), Keith blew a rather large fireball towards Lance’s head. With quick reflex, Lance lifted his right arm to swat the flame away, “HAH! That’s getting old, Keith.”

“Lance.” Hunk whispered in a somewhat horrified way.

“Seriously, your fireball tricks won’t work anymore.”

“Lance...!” Pidge urgently called out next.

“And even if it did hit me, Suds will fix my hair y’know.”

“LANCE!” Allura almost shouted.

“What?” Lance finally turned his attention to them instead of at Keith.

Four of them: Hunk, Pidge, Matt and Allura pointed to something. Lance looked down to see what they were pointing to and he came to realize that in his right palm… was Keith’s fireball. Lance lifted his hand up to his face and started wiggling his fingers. The fire wiggled along with the movement.

Lance first stared at the flame and then at the striking red markings on his right hand. He took a deep breath and then exhaled, “Ooooooh yeeeeeah”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically, I've got a whole vision for this fic lol and I totally wanna explore hybrid!Keith hahaha Let's see where we go from here, yeah?
> 
> (And don't get me wrong, I love Lance and I didn't give him a magical background because I think that's what makes him strong y'know? He's the royal tactician, he memorizes and maps every new land they visit, he's Shiro's right hand, he's a freaking awesome knight okay? And he may not be able to make potions or cast/control magic like Pidge and Hunk can but he can hold his own ground and he's versatile af.)
> 
> Since this fic will continue for a while, I'll try to distribute the love for each chara evenly~ Can't wait to play with Hunk and Allura~!!


	9. Crunchy Bubbles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Urgh my midterms are rolling in and this chapter is dedicated to my physical organic chemistry paper which was too good to be true (because I could answer everything wtf) Enjoy my stress relief peeps

 

They were back home. Finally. The journey back was even better than the journey towards the Death Valley because all of them had some sort of magical enhancement and it was awesome. Shiro still hadn’t shown his magic yet because he was too busy talking with Keith. That didn’t stop the rest of them from exploring their own magic though (“Just because you can make fire, doesn’t mean you can cook wherever you want to, Lance!” Allura shouted after a laughing Lance who was holding a piece of uncooked fish speared to a wooden stick).

But nothing was as good as being back at the castle. A few weeks had passed since the Death Valley and despite the magical upgrade for Shiro, Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Allura and Matt, things fell back into its usual routine within a day.

It was a crisp morning when Hunk woke up one day. He looked out the window to see the forest that surrounded half of the castle. Hunk always loved the outdoors. That’s where all the resources grew anyway. He always found it fascinating how a certain combination of flavor could be born from a simple mix of ingredients. Same with potions and welding. Combine this and that? Boom. You could get a healing salve or discover a new metal mold. While Pidge was good at making stuff based on her own theories and calculations, Hunk followed his intuition and own personal experience to match compatible starting materials.

And right then, as he was exiting the backdoors of the kitchen, his intuition told him to visit the greenhouse for new supplies (and maybe to play around with his enhanced Earth magic). Hunk had only made it pass the main door to the greenhouse before he froze.

“Keith…?”

Keith was crouching on one of the sand plots and had turned towards Hunk with wide eyes and his cheeks puffed on one side. Sand was steadily falling out of his right hand which was halfway towards his mouth.

They had an intense staring moment that was made even more intense by Keith slowly _chewing_.

Hunk looked absolutely horrified, “ _Why_ are you eating _sand_?”

Keith started chewing a little steadier as he answered, “I like the-“ After a particularly loud grinding sound, Keith nodded to himself and pointed to his mouth, “-that.”

The _crunch_. Keith liked the _crunch_ of the sand.

“Oh my go- No. Nope.” Hunk moved towards Keith in four quick strides before he deliberately picked Keith up by his arms and walked back out of the greenhouse, “I am not letting you eat sand ever again.”

“Hey Hunk!” Pidge greeted happily, “Where you headed to? And why are you carrying Keith?”

Keith had a mixture of a pout and an annoyed face as he grumbled, “He won’t let me eat sand.”

“HE WAS EATING SAND.” Hunk shouted in disbelief because he was still in shock.

Pidge actually scoffed _like it wasn't a big deal_ , “It’s just sand, Hunk.”

When Keith looked to Hunk with the ‘See? Told you.’ face, Hunk lifted Keith away from Pidge, “Hooooo no no no. You are not backing him up on this.” And quickly started moving towards the kitchens again, “I _will_ be giving Keith alternatives!”

Pidge laughed a little but shouted back, “Try the chips! Nyma said we got loads of ‘tatoes from the harvest!”

She was right of course. And that was the first thing Hunk was planning on shoving into Keith’s mouth. He was eating _sand_ for crying out loud. Okay, so maybe Hunk wasn’t in any position to criticize Keith’s choice of food because they still didn’t know what Keith’s digestive system was like but it would be a cold day in hell before Hunk would let any of his friends eat _sand_.

Hunk plopped Keith on one of the available chairs in the kitchen before he went off to put on his apron and started making the best _crunch_ Keith was ever going to taste. Not surprisingly (anymore), Keith didn’t move from his seat and instead opted to watch Hunk cook.

For all his stand off-ish demeanor, Keith was actually very pliant around them. Hunk remembered when Matt wanted to ‘interview’ Keith and six hours worth of questions later, Keith wasn’t even tired or annoyed. And he may seem to bicker a lot with Lance but Hunk noticed that if Lance (civilly) asked Keith to go hunting with him, Keith would simply choose a weapon and say ‘Let’s go’. Don’t even get started with Shiro. Keith usually knew when Shiro would need him even before Shiro realized himself. Keith rarely met Allura personally but was always polite towards her. Keith and Pidge? Hunk didn’t even want to know what they were up to in the potions lab.

By the time the chips were done being fried, Hunk had relived back the past few weeks since their return from Death Valley. They were all still avoiding the elephant in the room. Everyone wanted to give Keith some space before the big reveal as to why he did what he did (with the crystals) and why he was currently switching between his dragon form and human form.

“Here you go Keith! Freshly made chips-“ Hunk sprinkled salt with the grace of a chef on top of the fried potato strips, “-with a touch of salt.”

Keith eyed the dish critically before slowly picking one chip off the plate.

Hunk had cut it and fried it in a way so that it would be just crispy enough without being too tough or too hard. It was the perfect snack because by adjusting the size of the cut, Hunk could make it crispy on the outside and soft on the inside or something with that variation. For Keith, it was full out crispy. Hunk was almost vibrating with excitement to see Keith’s reaction. The chips were still hot but Hunk knew that Keith’s tolerance to heat was about as good as his ability to eat anything.

Keith carefully took a bite of the chip and after two satisfying _crunchy_ chews, his eyes widened and he gradually raised his head to stare at Hunk with something akin to awe.

“Good, right?” Hunk smugly crossed his arms.

Keith’s response was to literally shove a handful of piping hot potato chips into his mouth. Hunk thinks Keith needs to relearn the definition of ‘crunch time’.

 

* * *

 

“Hey Keith?” Pidge called out from where she was stirring her latest concoction in the cauldron, “Remember the scales you gave me to make Suds and Aqua and Flora and Pugs?”

Keith made an affirmed noise from where he was perched on one of the shelves in his dragon form. Whenever Shiro was meditating or sleeping at odd hours of the day due to his knight duties, Keith liked to hang about the castle, in both of his forms. Currently, he chose to keep company of the reclusive mage.

Pidge hummed in thought as she looked up towards the tiny dragon, “You still have scales on your armor when you turn human right? What do you think would happen if I put one of those scales in here?” She was making a new cleaning product for the castle that would clean away even the smallest particle of dust from any surface.

The tiny dragon spread its wings and flew down from the shelf, only for a pair of human feet to land gracefully onto the ground. Keith casually plucked one of the scales on the armor over his left arm. Then he passed it to Pidge without a word.

The mage gleefully added the scale into the cauldron and potions lab exploded. No, they were not hurt. Because the explosion was basically the chemically harmless cleaning product Pidge had made. Except it was huge. And took up half the potions lab. Pidge was laughing while her new concoction was engulfing a smiling Keith with its pseudo arms. Every time it made the warbling sound similar to its earlier siblings, its body would pop out little bubbles everywhere.

Pidge went towards the door and opened it wide. She shouted, "INCOMING!" before she urged her latest 'child' to have fun terrorizing the castle.

And so, that was how Bubbles was made and set loose forever because Pidge was a menace and did not have a vial that could fit it (yet).

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Until my midterms are over, I don't think I'll move on to the next 'plot' arc yet. Still, I hope you guys enjoy these next few snippets on everyone's lives with hybrid Keith~!
> 
> FYI: Bubbles is huge cuz the scale on Keith's armor is about 20 times the scale on his dragon body lol


	10. Bonding Moments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is exactly what the chapter title says it is and you know exactly who would be involved.

 

Ever since Keith returned to the castle as a human, he became an honorary member of the knights (because that’s where Shiro is). Initially, most of the knights were wary of him but all they had to do was see how Keith interacted with Lance and it was enough to erase the doubt in their hearts. After all, it was exactly the same as how dragon-Keith acted around Lance.

On a chilly autumn night, the knights were sent to scout a tip off from a travelling merchant; some bandits were rumored to be making use of the peaceful Trian Mountains as a base. Since Princess Allura was rightfully cautious of her kingdom’s territory and did not condone any types of illegal trading, she sent her brave knights to confirm the rumor and to do what’s right if it was true.  

With Shiro as the leader, Keith was brought along as usual. But for some reason, he did not tag along as a dragon. It would be his first timea on a mission with the knights as a human. Of course, Keith being in his human form meant that him and Lance would be at each other’s throats most of the time. Even so, the rare moments where Lance and Keith were civil (and maybe even _nice_ ) to each other were moments Shiro mentally engraved in his brain to retell everyone back at the castle.

Shiro sighed as he watched Lance doing his best to get at Keith as they walked ahead. Initially, Keith started walking ahead to assure that no threat would come to Shiro and for some reason, Lance took offence and started walking ahead to. Shiro felt Keith’s confusion at Lance’s somewhat competitive attitude but he did not step back. At some point, Shiro thought to himself _, ‘At least they’re not trying to burn each other.’_ From that train of thought, a sudden horrible image of the forest burning down came to him.

Keith looked back to Shiro with a mock-glare, “We’re _not_ gonna burn the forest down, Shiro.”

Lance looked confused at first but then he remembered Keith and Shiro’s mind connection.

Then, he turned to Shiro too, “What?! Really? C’mon Shiro, we’re not kids!” He crossed his arms, “Besides, I don’t think Keith could take the hea-“

Before Lance could finish his sentence, Keith blew out a breath of flames to his face. Lance’s fire magic cancelled out the incoming flames but it still made him shout in surprise. That was when the fireballs started being thrown and before things escalated, Shiro put his foot down.

A powerful gust of wind blew past the whole party, turning Lance and Keith’s flames into mere wisps.

“ _Enough_ , you two. Now, either walk together _nicely_ or I’ll-” he gave a pointed look to Lance first, “-tell the princess what you did last Christmas-“, then he gave Keith the same expression, “-and I’ll confiscate all snacks Hunk snuck in for you.” (Hunk peeked out sheepishly from the group of knights with a soft “I rather not be involved in this.”)

It was enough to make Lance gasp and Keith’s eyes widen so at least Shiro’s threats worked. Eventually, they began their trek once more towards the Trian Mountains and to everyone’s surprise, Keith and Lance walked and _talked_ normally. They spoke of trivial topics and even exchanged stories about the Holts. Time flew by quite fast with each new discussion.

“What does a tree branch taste like?” Keith asked suddenly in the middle of the night. They were still walking, guided by the stars and the moonlight.

Lance deadpanned (because he was tired and Keith was ridiculous), “ _Why_ would you even ask that?”

“It looks crunchy.” Keith reached out for a low thin branch and gripped it hard, “Sounds crunchy too.” He snapped it off.

Lance was on the verge of yawning when he said, “Buddy, I don’t think-“

When Keith started biting the tip of the branch, Lance opted to just stare incredulously. And Keith actually stared at him right back as he chewed the tree branch, noisily grating the wood into pieces.

“Okay.” Lance inhaled, “I’m wide awake now.”

Three seconds later, Keith was attacked by Hunk who made him spit out all the wood that was still in his mouth. And then Hunk started scolding Lance for letting Keith eat ‘whatever he could get his hands on’. To the other knights and Shiro, it was very amusing to watch. Afterwards, they started passing out the potato chips before Keith could break another branch.

The party kept going until they finally arrived in the vicinity of the Trian Mountains. The sunrise had just passed over the mountains when they found the bandits’ base.

After marking the perimeter, Shiro had them all huddled up for the ambush strategy that was relayed by Lance.

“I’ll create a distraction to get all of them focused on one spot. And then we all go in. If they show resistance, remember, we’re here to-“

“Stab them.”

“-apprehend them, Keith, _apprehend them.”_ Lance huffed, “ _Do not_ use force unless necessary. As long as we catch them off guard, they won’t be able to do anything.”

All the knights nodded and began spreading out around the perimeter of the base for the ambush. Shiro patted Lance on the back, “Good luck, sharpshooter. We’ll wait for your signal.” And then he left with Keith in tow.

Alone, Lance took a few calming breaths. He started looking around for a tree with the perfect vantage point. During the perimeter check, he noticed there was a high beam where a few ropes were tied to bundles of sacks filled with… some sort of white powder. He was going to shoot those ropes and drop a few sacks. After finding an appropriate tree, Lance climbed it and made sure he could actually shoot through the whole base so that his arrow could not be traced nor seen. The knight readied his bow and withdrew an arrow. His target was right in his line of vision. Lance pulled the string taut and confidently released a shot on his next exhale.

His arrow remarkably went through the whole base and landed somewhere in the forest on the other side. It did the job of dropping some of the sacks but it didn’t drive enough attention from the bandits. Most of them were still spread out and only about a quarter were shouting at each other where the sacks were dropped.

Lance clenched the grip of his bow in frustration.

Suddenly, a voice said from above him, “Why don’t you just burn one of the huts down?”

Lance was lucky he didn’t fall off from his branch or screamed by accident and giving out his position. After gaining his bearings again, he glared upwards, “Keith! What the heck are you doing here?! I thought you went with Shiro!”

“I did.” Keith stated flatly and did not attempt to explain why he was suddenly with Lance on the same tree. Instead, he asked again, “Why don’t you burn one of the huts? That’ll focus their attention.”

Lance pursed his lips. Keith was right. He _could_ burn one of the empty huts. That would create the right scene for them to ambush. The bandits would all rush to put out the fire. It was perfect. But how was he supposed to do it without getting into the base itself?

As though he had read Lance’s mind, Keith spoke again, “You don’t need to be down there to burn it.”

Realization dawned on Lance. His arrows. He could use his arrows. What was the point of having fire magic if he didn’t use it right? He really needed to get used to magic. Growing up and living without any sort of magic meant he would take the longest to adjust to simply _the idea_ of having fire magic. Lance put those thoughts behind and withdrew another arrow. He lit a small flame in his hand and held it against the point of the arrow.  

As Lance readied the arrow with its burning arrowhead, he smiled, “Thanks, Keith.”

Keith smiled back but didn’t say anything else. In the quietness of the forest, only the snap of the taut string was heard as it was released.

They both watched as the fire arrow flew towards an empty-looking hut, setting it ablaze not long after the arrow landed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A single line of Shiro's magic hahahah love it 
> 
> Anyway, you're probably wondering why they're trekking but they actually have a whole cavalry and some carriages to carry criminals too but those were not mentioned. And Shiro prefers trekking cuz horses are too difficult to handle during combat and makes too much noise. So the knights are actually divided into many groups with different tasks. Shiro's is the first line of defense group and will alert the other divisions if they need anything cuz the other divisions are about an hour behind Shiro's. 
> 
> Also I will always love platonic Klance. There's a nice friendship between them that may seem hot and cold but they care a lot for one another. 
> 
> AND MY MIDTERMS ARE OVER SO WE'LL MOVE INTO A NEW PLOT ARC NEXT WEEK!!!!


	11. An Invitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the late update but uni has been merciless with all its video assignments (we're chem majors btw) and like... wow next week is my finals hahaha bye everyone

 

The invitation to Prince Lotor’s banquet arrived while the knights were on their way back from Trian Mountains. By the time they reached the castle, the princess was already making preparations to visit the neighboring kingdom.

And Lance, was not happy. He had greeted the princess with plenty of ‘what-if’s in regards to the invitation. Pidge and Matt were quick to support Lance, knowing full well that the prince could not be trusted and to enter his domain was like jumping into a giant venus flytrap.

While Lance was speaking from a tactical point of view, the Holt siblings spoke from an old grudge. Their father had been trapped in that kingdom despite his ties to his children who were held in high regards towards Princess Allura. Of course, according to him, nothing _bad_ actually happened but his children were not so trustful of his memories. Pidge had always believed that his memory was tampered with because he didn’t even know how long he had been there. She knew that if he promised to come back in three months, he would have watched the Sun and Moon every day to ensure he returned on time.

It had taken him a year to come home. No one wanted to remember what the Holt siblings were like in those few months that their father had gone missing. Pidge was ruthless and almost convinced Matt to launch preparations for war. That was when Lotor had shown up and offered the elder Holt as a ‘peace offering’ to call off the tension between their kingdoms.

Shiro and Lance had to physically hold Pidge back from burning the prince alive then and there.

That’s why, with the memory of their father’s detain fresh in their minds, Pidge and Matt strongly urged the princess to decline the banquet invitation. With Lance’s plausible theories backing them up, they were sure they had swayed the princess.    

Princess Allura listened to all that they had to say but deep down, she knew it was her duty as the princess to maintain political relationships that her father had tirelessly built. The Galran Kingdom used to be a favored ally but the bridge slowly collapsed with the withdrawal of King Alfor from the throne. Wanting to gain their old alliance back, Princess Allura gently turned down the proposal to decline the banquet invitation.

While Lance was disheartened by the princess’ strong stance to visit Prince Lotor, Keith had asked, “Who’s Lotor?”

And so, that was how Keith ended up with Lance and Hunk out on the grass with one of Matt’s scrolls and Pidge’s latest creation, Inky – a self-writing quill.

Keith and Hunk were sitting while Lance was standing next to the floating scroll, snapping his fingers at Inky to draw or write whatever necessary for Keith’s sake.

“Lotor. Is a prince.” Lance started while Inky drew a remarkable doodle of the prince, “He is a manipulative jerk with an accent that makes you want to smash his face in. And his smile…” Lance actually shivered, “…makes you wish you never had eyes or something.”

Hunk nodded along while Keith frowned at the scroll. Apparently Inky had drawn a very… happy Prince Lotor with flowers around him and a smiling Sun above his head. It was quite contradictory with whatever Lance was saying.

Lance took notice of Keith’s face and turned to see what Inky had drawn, “Aha! Thanks for the reminder, Inky.” The Royal Tactician turned back to Keith with a serious face, “No matter what, Keith. Never. Believe. His sunny disposition.”

Keith nodded solemnly, “Okay.”

Lance clapped his hands together, “Good! Now, we’re moving on to his parents, urgh… You _do_ know what those are right? Mother? Father?”

The dragon halfling looked mildly offended, “Of course I do. I have a mother.”

“What…?!” Lance and Hunk shouted in sync.

“Yeah she’s like…” Keith outstretched his arms as far as he could, “…this big.” He frowned at his small arms, “Well bigger than that. She was a big.. dragon.”

“Wait.” Lance’s eyes bulged, “Are you telling me that your dragon form can get bigger?!”

Keith deadpanned, “I already _am_ bigger. Almost as big as my mother.”

Hunk shook his head in disbelief, “Then- Why’d you choose to be small?”

“For Shiro.”

Lance pinched his forehead, “How does that even make sens-“

Matt suddenly showed up from behind Lance, joining in the conversation as though he had been there the whole time, “No, no. He has a point. Shiro loves small things, remember?”

Realization dawned on both Lance and Hunk’s face, “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah right.”

The three of them started listing off the small things that had claimed Shiro and vice versa.

Matt happily exclaimed first, “That little cat down Bakery Street!”

“The baby selkie off shore Blue Lagoon.” Lance nodded.

Hunk frowned, “Pretty sure he adopted a werewolf cub from Lanula.”

Lance lit up, “Yeah! The one that wouldn’t let go of his leg!”

Pidge suddenly sauntered up to the group and added, “Not to mention his recent one, Keith.”

“Will you Holt siblings stop appearing out of nowhere!!”

Then, from a distance above them, Princess Allura shouted from one of the tower windows, “Lance! Don’t forget about the blue tits and the Queen Bee!”

Lance muttered to himself, “Is everyone listening in on this conversation right now?”

Meanwhile Pidge was groaning, “Please… Never talk about the blue tits and the Queen Bee. That was the weirdest shit I have _ever_ seen. And I’m a _mage_ which is saying a lot.”

And of course, that had to be the one that Keith was most interested in, “Shiro had a Queen Bee that liked him? That’s... Well, they’re usually hard to tame.” He cocked his head innocently to the side as he asked, “But what’s a tit?”

Before Lance, Hunk or Matt could tell the story, Pidge sealed their lips shut and hissed, “Keith is a _child_ and does not need to know about _the birds and the bee!_ ”

Matt swiftly disabled the spell (much to everyone’s surprise) and started debating with Pidge about Keith’s age. He even unsealed Lance and Hunk’s lips to back him up but those two simply made it worse by changing the topics back and forth from the blue tits and the Queen Bee.

Eventually, Shiro found them all shouting at each other while Inky was showing Keith its very own close-up drawing of what looked to be, a detailed blue tit.

Shiro sighed but he was a little relieved that the morning’s tension regarding Prince Lotor’s invitation had… converted into a different (much safer) form. None of them wanted to risk falling for Lotor’s kind words and Shiro was feeling especially protective of Keith for some reason. Then again… As he watched Keith absorb the picture of the blue tit, he could not help but feel that Keith would enjoy the Galran Kingdom. After all, it was a beautiful place even if they had to brave the manipulative rulers to fully embrace it.

He was so not looking forward to seeing King Zarkon and Queen Honerva. And their son. Just remembering Prince Lotor when he ‘handed over’ Sam Holt made Shiro sigh. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt something move in his pocket.

Shiro smiled even before he looked down at Keith, snuggling in his nest of mismatched trinkets. He patted the pocket from outside and Keith crooned up at him.

They’ll be okay. He’ll make sure of it.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [I MEAN HAVE Y'ALL SEEN THESE LITTLE FUCKERS](https://www.google.com/search?q=blue+tits&client=ms-android-samsung&prmd=ivn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiS7cCD7ZLbAhUJvI8KHRy6B4MQ_AUIESgB&biw=360&bih=559)
> 
>  
> 
> Also like, Pidge knows Keith ain't a child, she just really really really wants to forget about the blue tits and the queen bee being in love with Shiro hahahaha Think like, reverse Bee Movie or something for the queen bee phase lol

**Author's Note:**

>  ~~This thing will only be two or three chapters, should be done in a few days lol~~  
>  Fuck it, this fic grew wings. 
> 
> Tumblr/Twitter @alisayamin if you ever wanna send requests or anything, I prefer gen but mild-shippy requests are fine too


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